Safety razor blade magazine and replacement blade package for the same



Nov. 12, 1957 L. K. KUHNL 2,812,576

SAFETY RAZOR BLADE MAGAZINE AND REPLACEMENT BLADE PACKAGE FOR THE SAME Filed Aug. 16, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet l :3 0 m rl 6 3 5 3 7 4 2 2 M u INVENTOR. LEuPuLB K KUHNL .BY Ma/pXM AT TORNEYfi Q lllllll l Nov. 12, 1957 L. K. KUHNL A 2,8

SAFETY RAZOR BLADE MAGAZINE AND REPLACEMENT BLADE PACKAGE FOR THE SAME Filed Aug. 16, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 57 45 50 52 l 1 53 43 I1 121 I, Ar IL Q \I I l LA. v

5a 60 4e 47 as" 57 48 INVENTOR.

LEuPnLD KKUHNL @ZQWMMW ATTORNEY? United States Patent SAFETY RAZOR BLADE MAGAZINE. PLACEMENT BLADE PACKAGE FOR THE SAME Leopold Karl Kuhnl, Stratfo'rd, Conn, assignorto Eversharp, Inc., Chicago, Ill., a corporation of Delaware Application August 16, 1954, SerialNo. 449,890

3 Claims. 01. 30-40) This invention relates to new and useful improvements in packages for razor blades and has particular relation to a package for blades used in the ejector type of razor such as exemplified in the patent to Hilliard, No. 2,072,636 of March 2, 1937.

The present invention may be embodied in a razor blade package wherein the blades are directly contained in an ejector and also in a package comprising an ejector and a container of a temporary nature adapted to be used as a means for loading the ejector and to hold the blades while in the ejector and to be discarded and replaced in the ejector by a full container whenever the blades have all been used therefrom.

A more specific object is to provide a razor blade ejector including a body to contain blades, an ejector alignment finger extending forwardly from the body, and

means for ejecting a razor blade from said body fully into a razor even though the ejector and razor are not fully or completely coupled. i 7

An object of the invention is to provide a package for blades of an ejector type razor and which package is of practical design and may be inexpensively manufactured.

A specific object is to provide a blade packaging arrangement for ejector type razors and includingan ejector adapted to be permanently used with the razor for moving out an old or used blade and moving in a newor unused blade, and a container of blades which container is of light gauge material or otherwise made of less. expensive and less permanent construction and is, when loaded with blades, adapted to be bodily inserted into the ejector and have blades fed therefrom directly into a razor and is adapted to be withdrawn from the ejector and discarded when all the blades have been used therefrom.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from a consideration of the following detailed description taken in, connection with the accompanying drawings wherein satisfactory embodiments of the invention are shown. However, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the details disclosed but includes all such variations and modifications as fall within the spirit of the invention and the scope of the appended claims.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of a razor and a razor blade package, wherein the razor blades are directly contained in an ejector, coupled as for the movementof a blade from the package into the razor; I I

Fig. 2 is a front elevationalview of the same;

Fig. 3 is a view looking into the front end of the package with the ejector alignment finger in section, the view being taken as along the line 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional view taken as along the line 44 of Fig. l; y

Fig. 5 is an end elevational view of the package, the view being taken as looking from the right in Fig.1;

Fig. 6 is an isometric view ofthe ejector;

i Fig. 7 is a similar view of a plungeremployed;

Patented Nov. 12, 1957 "ice Fig. 8 is a similar view of an outer end closure mem-, her or clip employed;

Fig. 9 is a detail sectional view of a portion of the plunger of Fig. 7; 7 Fig. 10 is a view similar to Fig. 6 but showing a modification; i A s Fig. 11 is an isometric view of a temporary container to be loaded into the ejector of Fig. 10; I e

Fig. 12 is a front elevational view of the ejector of Fig. -10 when'loaded with a filled container of blades;

Fig. 13 is a transverse sectional view through such an assembly; 1 t r Fig. '14 is an end elevational view of such an assembly, the view being taken looking from the outer end of the assembly; and r Y Fig. 15 is a'longitudinal central sectional view through such an assembly, the view being taken as along theline 1515 of Fig. 12. e r

Referring in detail to the drawings and at first more particularly ot Figs. 19, the razor blade package of the invention is generally designated 10 and in Figs. 1 and 2 the same is shown associated with a razor generally designated 11. The razor 11, in addition to ahandle 12, includes a head 13 comprising a guard plate 14 suitably attached to the handle and a top clamping plate 15 also suitably attached to the handle. Preferably theguard is hingedly mounted for. forward movement out from under the top clamping plate 15 but the guard is held imposition as by. a spring piece 16. Razor 11 is known as an ejector type razorand the same is disclosed in Patents 1,806,087 and 1,969,945 amongst others. When the razor is to be used, the ejector package 10 is coupled with the razor and the blade is moved from the package into the head 13. The operative position of the blade in the head is between the guard plate 14 and the top clamping plate 15 and with the forward corner portions of the blade located against stops or positioning lugs 17 on the guard plate.

The present invention is not concerned with improvements in the razor 11 but is concerned with improvements in the package 10. Package 10 comprises an ejector including a generally rectangular hollow body 18 formed up of sheet brass as by folding a suitable blank upon itself to provide the body with a bottom wall 19, side Walls'20 and 21 and a top wall comprising a pair of flange-like parts 22 and 23 separated by a slot 24. vIt will thus beseen that the body 18 of the ejector is formed in such manner that the parting betwen the edges of its "portions 22 and 23 provides the slot 24 which extends lengthwise of the body and entirely through the upper ,wall thereof. This slot 24 is located in the longitudinal wardly therefrom andis used to slightly spring theplate 15 from the plate 14 and to properly locate the body 18 .with respect to the head 13 of the razor .when a used blade is being ejected from the razor and a new blade is being shifted from the package 10 into the razor. Thus, the finger 26 is inserted in the usual manner into the razor head 13. Y 1

Within the body 18 is located a suitable bowed spring 27 on which is located a stack of razor blades 28 pressed against the top wall of the body 18 by the spring. The

rear end of the body 18 is closed as by a clip member '29l( see Fig. 8) which is' simply slipped into place and 'has its side arms 30 and 31 pressing against the side walls d lays 20 and 21 of the body 18. Side arm 31 of clip 29 is provided with a slot 32 which cooperates with a protuberance or lug 33 formed in the side wall 21 of the body 18.

While th li 29 substan i l doses th r a an of the 'body'18 it"is noted that. the front ,wall 25 has l lper dg sl h y spa e f om flu un e si e" o t top wall portions 22"and 23 of the bgdy, This space is s at d 4 in t e d awin s and pro ide 120 2 the movement of the uppermost bladeof the staelc 128 out through the f o rwa r d end of the body 18. Such movement of the blade takes place over the upper edge of the front ,wall 25.

pos h h h sly 1 1 az ladefecd ns Q sh in means ;in the fogm of a slide 35 whichstraddles thehody 18 and includes side flanges 36located at the oute rE-sides of the side walls 20 a nd 21. of the b o dy for guiding move m nmf th slide a n th z st y- "Thi l d 1 iiaslst s a plunger portion 37. which passes through the slot 124 and extends below theupper wall portion 22 "for a ,disan app ox el eq a t t th cknes 9 r s p a e.

s h re n shown, th sl e i em va z v haun on the' body 18 asEby meansof ,an elastic 38, enc" 'ng said body andcrossing the slide. This provides an'in expensive mounting for the slide on the b ody and-also provides a mounting whereby the slide may beremove d from one body and used on another ,and whereby slidemay'be eonveniently'moved lengthwise of the body jbut is yet'helda gainst the upper wall of thelatter.

slide '35 maybe disposed on the body '181bya simple vertical movement to have the slide straddle the body. This+will locate the plunger 37in the slot 24 and it will be clear that the slide, being mounted 'by the elastic 3 8, is adapted for manual movement longitudinally of prback and forth on;the=body-18. "Rearward movementofthe slide-isdirnitedby a shoulder 139formed towards the rear end of the slot '24 "but there are no ;means on 'the body-1 8, or in fact on anypart of the package for lirnitingiorward movement of the slide.

=When the package 10: isto be used to replaces. blade in the razor 11, the 'finger-26 is "inserted into the razor head 13 in the usual manner. Then slide 35 is d awn rearwardly on;t he body tohave the plunger fi'l located "immediately rearwardly of the ;uppermost of --the blades of the stack -28. In this connection it -will=be understood that the spring-27 willalways keep such uppermost blade against the underside of the -top -wall portions :22 ;;and 23 of the'body. I l

Also, fit twill be understood that theelastic-38 ;;will=pe r- -rnit slight upward movement of-theslide;35so=that-the latter'maypass-over such uppermost blade and will pm gnap down to place the plunger -37 against the rear :or outer end of such-blade. In this connectionit is noted ;tha t the plunger is rounded {in .its rear side as at -.40 whereby it will cam over ablade during its rearward movement --and the forward edge of said plunger is slightly inclined as at 41 whereby;it-"has adendeneystoidig under ablade when it is'brought-to-the-rear;of the blade. The rear-edge of the plunger onengagemenkwith-dhe shoulder 39 limits excessive "rearward movement of the slide.

slide having been moved, outwardly or rearwardly so;thatthe plungerisagainst theouter end of the pppe rmostblade of the stack andthefinger ln'bein g loea ted in the razor head, slide -35-is now p opelled-forwardly with the plunger engaged against the rear or ,outererid ofgthe uppermost blade of the stack. Thispushesdhe b ad q wa d y n u of t tenas a :1 su m the razorhead '13. If thereis an old blade in theraizor head, the incoming new blade serves to push jile dld hladefrom therazor head.

H mme s the Pa a s ,t av -l2. n..9 a d issu struetion that the slot..0r groove, through whiph he sli plu s n ate is ,c s d mineral and th s lid si p rsona ly mo nte 4m t hol -9 th With such a construction, it will be clear that the slide is'lost when the ejector is discarded. Also, it will-be clear that the ejector need be of somewhat greater length than the body of the present ejector to allow for the closed for- Wardend of the slot. With such constructions, if the finger 26 is not fully inserted into the razor head 13, when the slide is moved to .itspgttreme forward position it strilge stheclp sed end of the slot andcannot move an additional ,a nquntnnd yet ,the ,blade which it has started to eject is not fully 'in the razor head. I :With @the p esen csons u tion, when t e pac and the-razonhead are coupled .(see' particularly Fig. 1) the slot 2gl,v i s,closed,atits forward endbythe top clamp plate 15 of the razor head. With this construction, when the slide is moved forward, ,its forward movement it limited only by engagement of the forward edge 41 of the plunger 37 with the inner edge or end portion of the top clamping plate l 5 of the razor head. Thus, if the finger 26 is not fullyginserted. the blade will b'e properly inserted in the razorfhead. 'This is true because the slide will be moved forward untilitsprogress'is stopped by engagement with the adjacent end bf th e'top clamping plate 15 of the razor head. This -;is true even though the plunger -is moved out through the open'fdrward'end'of the slot 24. Thus, with the fiiesent construction, should the user not fully insert the finger-2 6, the blade 'will ';be fully inserted into the razor headf A secpiid advantage of the present cons t ructionis that the closed forward end of the slot 24 being purposely avoided,;the body 18 of the ejector may he made slightly shorter than that of the ejectors heretofore-used with a resultant savings in material. Addi- ,tionall y, ,the present slide'3'5 may be changed from one patiltage ofililades to another and there is no expense in its application since it ;is merely held in place by the elasfic 38. No additional mechanical parts need be fabricated or applied for the mounting of the slide on the body of the ejector.

Referring now to the modification of Figs. 10-15, in this construction-it -is proposed -to provide a permanent structure of substantially the construction of the ejector package '10 but wherein no blades are stacked directly "in the body." "With this will come a separate container holding the 'blades and 'su ch container is designed to befiins ertedjnto the body of the ejector and have the blades-Shifted'inthe usual-manner-into a razor and then when th e supply of blades in this container is exhausted, the container 'yvil l be discarded and a new filled container inserted irito the ejector. This will result in a considerable ;savings since the ejector of a permanent structure willrhe used with many packages of blades and, ineffect, may-be used as long as the razor is used. It is only necessary to buy the container of blades and such package-is of a simple} light weight and inexpensive conistructionpnd when the blades have been used from it, fjit mayjbe discarded.

fIhusQinjF-ig; lo Ithave illustrated an ejector generally designated 45 and comprisingan elongated rectangular body46 suitablyformed of a piece of sheet metal or the likedneluding a bottom wall 47, side walls 48 and 49, and a top wall comprising flange-like sections 50 and 5 1 bent and extending toward one another but separated j-by -a slot 52 correspondingwith the slot 24 of the strucejector alignment finger-55 corresponding with the-finger PE iQHS Y .d s ri sd- H v is noted particularly with reference to 'lfig. lZdhflt thetront wall 54 stops slightly below the topf yvall comprising sections or flanges 50 and 51. 'lhe spacelhetweenthe upper edge of the, front .wall

54 and the underside of the top wall sections is approximately equal to the thickness of a razor blade. Also, it is noted that the body 46 is entirely open through its rear or outer end and that the same is not closed in any manner, no part equivalent to the clip 29 of Fig. 8 being employed.

Shiftable longitudinally on the body 46 is a slide 56 similar to the slide 35 previously described which slide may be retained in position, like the slide '35, by an elas-. tic 38, and which slide is provided with a plunger 57 similar to the plunger 37 previously, described. Essentially the difference between the plunger 57 and the plunger 37 resides in the fact that plunger 57 is of slightly greater depth and the purpose of this construction will later be fully set forth.

At 58 is generally indicated a filled container to be inserted into the body 46. This container 58 comprises a shell 59 of the general construction of the body 46 and including a bottom wall 60, side walls 61 and 62, and a top wall comprising sections 63 and 64 separated by a slot 65 extending through both ends of said top wall. The shell 59 does include a front wall 66 and the rear of the shell is closed as by a clip 67 of or substantially of the construction of clip 29 shown in Fig. 8. This clip cooperates with a detent 68 formed in the wall 62 of the shell 59.

Within said shell 59 and against the bottom wall thereof is a leaf spring 69 on the upper side of which is disposed a series or pack or stack of razor blades 70. At their forward ends, these blades are against the front wall 66 of the shell and they are held in place at the rear end of the shell by the spring clip 67. Clearly the spring 69 is constantly tending to maintain the uppermost of the blades 70 against the undersides of the top Wall portions 63 and 64.

The closure clip 67 is of such height (see Figs. 14 and 15) that its upper edge is slightly below the top wall sections 63 and 64, the spacing of these parts being about equal to the thickness of a razor blade. Thus, it will be seen that the uppermost blade 70 may be slid forwardly over the upper edge of the front wall 66 as suggested by the broken lines 71 in Fig. 15 or this blade may pass rearwardly over the upper edge of the connecting wall of the clip 67.

According to the present plans, the ejector 45 would be of a rather permanent construction adapted to withstand repeated use. The shell of the package 58 would be of a lighter more inexpensive construction and would be designed to be discarded once the blades 70 had been used from it. When a package of blades in the body 46 of ejector 45 is used up, the shell of that package would be removed from the body 46 and discarded. Then a full package 58 would be inserted into the body 46 through the open rear end thereof to have the front wall 66 of that package engage the inner surface of the front wall 54 of the body 46.

The constructions are such that on the package 58 being so inserted the slot 65 extending through the length of its top wall would be aligned with the slot 52 through the top Wall of the casing 46. Also, the rear end of the package 58 should come flush or substantially flush with the rear end of the housing 46 so that after the blades are used from the shell 59, the latter could be withdrawn from the housing 46 and so that by pressing the thumb against the rear ends of the housing and shell, the latter would be held in proper position in the former during any manipulation.

A full package 58 of the blades being within the housing 46, the slide 56 is applied and its plunger passes through the slot 52 in the upper wall of the housing and the slot 65 in the upper wall of the shell 59 and is of such length that on the slide being drawn rearwardly, the inclined leading edge 72 of said plunger would engage the rear end of the uppermost blade of the stack 70. Then as the slide is shifted forwardly on the housing 46, said blade would be shifted forwardly and, the ejector alignment finger 55 being entered into the razor head 13, such blade would be shifted into such head between the guard 14 and the top clamping plate 15. Since the slots 52 and 65 are open at their forward ends, the slide may be shifted forwardly until the forward edge of its plunger engages the adjacent'end of the top clamping plate'15 so that the blade will be fully inserted into the razor head even though the finger 55 has not been fully inserted.

I It will be clear that the spring 69 will constantly keep a blade in position to be engaged by the plunger 57 on manipulation of the slide 56 so that as far as the mechanical use of the device for ejecting a blade into the razor head is concerned, the operation will be the same as that previously described or as described in connection with the package 10 of Figs. 1-9.

When all of the blades from the package 58 are used up, the shell 59 may be removed from the housing 46 and discarded and a new package or a new filled container inserted into the housing. In this connection it is noted that since the package 58 is only a means for convenient handling of the razor blades and is to be discarded after short use, it may be of rather light weight and of inexpensive construction, the ejector 45 being of a permanent or substantially permanent construction adapted to have a life approximately equal to that of the razor used.

Having thus set forth the nature of my invention, what I claim is:

1. In a razor blade ejector device, an elongated generally transversely rectangular housing including bottom, top and side walls, an ejector alignment finger extending forwardly from the forward end of one of said side walls, said housing having a slot in its top wall and extending through the forward end thereof, a slide including a portion on said top wall and side flanges at the outer sides of said side walls, an elastic band encircling said housing and said slide under tension for resiliently maintaining said portion of the slide against said top wall in snugly fitting but slidable engagement with the latter whereby the slide is secured against the housing but for movement longitudinally thereof, and a plunger on said slide and extending inwardly through said slot and movable longitudinally of the latter with the slide.

2. In an ejector means for an ejector type razor, a hollow elongated transversely rectangular housing, an ejector alignment finger extending forwardly from the forward end of one wall of said housing, said housing having a slot in another wall thereof and opening through the forward end of said other wall, a removable blade package within said housing and comprising an elongated container generally rectangular in transverse section and having a snug fit in said housing, said container having a slot through one of its walls and in alignment with the slot in the wall of said housing, a stack of razor blades within said container, spring means normally maintaining the outermost of said blades against the inner surface of the container wall having said slot therethrough, a slide on said housing and movable longitudinally thereof, and a plunger rigid with said slide and passing through said slots and adapted to enter said container at least to a depth equal to the thickness of the outermost blade of said stack whereby on proper manipulation of the slide to engage the rear end of said blade and project the same forwardly through the forward end of said housing and container.

3. In an ejector means for an ejector type razor, an ejector comprising a permanent structure including a hollow elongated transversely rectangular housing, an ejector alignment finger extending forwardly from the forward. end of one wall of said housing, said housing having a slot in another wall thereof and opening through the forward end of said other wall, a removable blade package within said housing and comprising an elongated container gen' salam- Mead Dec. 23, 1952 Butlin Apr. 6, 1954 

